McCain clarifies, sort of: I assume Ted Cruz is eligible to be president — but shouldn’t it be looked at?

posted at 2:41 pm on January 8, 2016 by Allahpundit

BuzzFeed is calling this a walkback from what he said yesterday. Is it? A walkback would be “I’m convinced now from my reading of the law that Cruz is eligible” and/or “the campaign shouldn’t be sidetracked by distractions like this.” He’s not saying either of those things. In fact, he’s doubling down on the idea that this should be looked at. All he’s allowing is that Cruz presumably considered his eligibility before he decided to run and felt confident he qualified as “natural-born.”

Is this a walkback?

“This is something constitutional scholars should make a decision on. I assume that he is eligible, that’s my assumption, and I will continue to assume that until it is contradicted,” McCain said. “But it needs to be looked at, as every aspect of anyone who wants to be the president of the United States should be quote ‘looked at,’ and I don’t see anything wrong with that. Should you and I say it shouldn’t be looked at?”

That’s all Trump really wants from his Birther play against Cruz, for people to agree that it should be “looked at.” I haven’t seen a single con law scholar argue that there’s real doubt about Cruz’s constitutional eligibility; if he went to court, he’d win, assuming a court would even agree to hear the challenge. Trump’s point in raising this is to keep a cloud over Cruz’s head and to keep him talking about this instead of the things he really wants to talk about — and McCain is playing right into it.

This is what you say when you want to tamp the issue down rather than keep it going:

.@tedcruz is a "natural born citizen." Obama too. Even George Romney. This isn't the issue you're looking for.

Yet behind those breezy dismissals, there’s a recognition among Cruz allies that, given Trump’s ability to dominate a news cycle, the issue is a considerable distraction.

“Virtually every news story, TV show coverage, is bringing up the birther issue and Trump’s statements on it, it’s clearly in the mainstream media right now, people are hearing about it, talking about it, and you have to address it,” said Saul Anuzis, the former chairman of the Michigan GOP, who has informally advised the Cruz campaign on some matters but stressed that he was not speaking for the campaign on this issue…

Tommy Vietor, a veteran of the Obama administration who is well-acquainted with the fever swamps of the birther debate, said Trump “can screw up an entire week of your coverage, and in this late phase of the campaign, that’s a huge problem.”

Cruz got a question about his eligibility from a voter at a campaign event for the first time today. His response was … pitiful, frankly:

Cruz says questions about his citizenship are being raised because “the Washington cartel is terrified out of their minds" about him.

That’s cute, and it’s of a piece with Cruz claiming yesterday that McCain is after him about his eligibility only because he supports establishment heartthrob Marco Rubio. (McCain hasn’t endorsed Rubio yet, but I wouldn’t bet against it happening later this month.) It wasn’t the “Washington cartel” that injected this issue into the media’s bloodstream, though; it was Cruz’s BFF Donald, who’s now eager to kneecap him in Iowa by raising doubts about his qualifications for the office. Jeb Bush put it well in an interview with Sean Hannity yesterday: “You know this is what Trump does. He says something and then he pulls back. ‘Well I didn’t say it, someone else said it. I’m just repeating what someone else said.’ Come on man. Let’s get to the issues.” But Cruz can’t say what Bush said because he refuses to waver from his nonaggression pact with Trump, so he’s left here feebly trying to blame Beltway insiders for an attack that was launched on him by Mr. Outsider. Trump could walk over to Cruz at next week’s debate and punch him in the nuts and Cruz, doubled over in pain, would gasp, “I’ll bet the Washington cartel really enjoyed that.” Whatever.

A few Cruz fans tweeted at me this afternoon that I’m missing the point and that Cruz meant to imply that Trump is part of the “Washington cartel.” Er, no, he didn’t. For one thing, it would completely undermine Cruz’s long game of pandering to Trump’s supporters in hopes of becoming their second choice. There’s no insult he could toss at Trump more grave than to accuse him of being the sort of same center-left fatcat elitist that he routinely accuses Beltway regulars of being. Trump’s cult of personality would be appalled. Cruz hasn’t cheerily let himself be slapped around by Trump for this long without retaliating only to go nuclear on him now. For another thing, how can Cruz accuse Trump of being part of the “Washington cartel” when he’s praised Trump repeatedly in the past for “taking on the Washington cartel”? That was part of his long game too — paint himself and Trump as kindred populist spirits, hoping and expecting that Trump’s voters would migrate to him in time. Now he’s having an epiphany over the eligibility issue that Trump is actually a cronyist RINO stalking horse of the GOP establishment tasked with blowing Cruz up? Please. The “Washington cartel” nonsense here is nothing more or less than Cruz attempting to shift blame for the eligibility issue from Trump, whom he can’t afford to alienate, to McCain, a much safer villain. The ironic truth is that it’s some of the most “establishment” guys in the party who have come to Cruz’s defense on eligibility — Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, even his new nemesis Marco Rubio. If Cruz insists on eating Trump’s sh*t for strategic reasons, that’s fine, but the rest of us shouldn’t be under any illusions about who’s serving it up.

Well Mitt Romney the wise elderly statemen of the party has weighed in. It’s settled then. Lol
~
I think this is actually helping Cruz because … it’s distracting us from the issues. Yeah, instead of thinking about the specific issues, we just mindlessly repeat that Cruz is a “consistent conservative.”

Get back to the nuts and bolts issues, and Cruz falters.

As Trump fans with Iowa approaching it’s important that we google Cruz on the issue and repeat those points back in comments, like:

Did Ted’s mom adopt Canadian citizenship while she was living and working in Canada for several years prior to Ted’s birth? Ted’s dad did, maybe his mom did too. Has it been established that his mom was still a US citizen at the time of his birth?

Trump could walk over to Cruz at next week’s debate and punch him in the nuts and Cruz, doubled over in pain, would gasp, “I’ll bet the Washington cartel really enjoyed that.” Whatever.

This absolutely cracked me up. Pure vintage AP. :-)

The ironic truth is that it’s some of the most “establishment” guys in the party who have come to Cruz’s defense on eligibility — Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, even his new nemesis Marco Rubio.

Of course they have. They need Cruz to split the conservative vote so Rubio can sneak through to win somehow. This is similar to how the anti-Trumpers buttered up Carson during his brief surge. If Cruz starts to slip in the polls, his new friends will quickly desert him.

I think this is actually helping Cruz because … it’s distracting us from the issues. Yeah, instead of thinking about the specific issues, we just mindlessly repeat that Cruz is a “consistent conservative.”

Get back to the nuts and bolts issues, and Cruz falters.

anotherJoe on January 8, 2016 at 2:54 PM

I don’t agree. Remember the outcomes of “low energy,” “look at that face!” and Trump’s attacks on McCain? In all three situations where many thought Trump had imploded his campaign with those remarks, he ended to knocking his opponent out instead.

It could be that Cruz is the candidate this tactic finally fails with, but past history suggests Cruz’s numbers will fall or at least no change will happen.

This isn’t a nice attack, but Trump wants to win in Iowa. We knew he would have to go after Cruz sooner or later, though he’d obviously prefer not to given how long the relative “kid gloves” treatment lasted in comparison with some of Trump’s other opponents. Question now is whether Cruz is still on Trump’s short list for VP and whether Cruz would be willing to accept.

As a point of information, it’s really quite difficult to renounce your US citizenship. You have to go to a US embassy and make a fuss. You don’t in any way endanger it by taking up a second passport.

Signed,
Soon to be Dual Citizen

S. Weasel on January 8, 2016 at 3:09 PM

This is what I tried to explain in an earlier thread.

If you were born in the USA to a citizen parent, you are a natural born citizen of America.

If that citizen then moves to Canada and receives citizenship there, that does not automatically nullify your natural born US citizenship as some people seem to believe. At that point if you have a child in Canada, that child will have dual US-Canadian citizenship from birth.

You and your child can return to the USA at anytime and retain the dual citizenship, or in the case of Ted Cruz, formally relinquish the Canadian citizenship.

None of that makes him Constitutionally ineligible to run for President.

I think you’re misreading this. As I said on Twitter, he’s not going to get into it with Trump because that’s not his strategy right now and it’s a strategy that’s been working for him. Instead, he’ll redirect attacks to who he wants to focus on.

— and he hasn’t renounced that citizenship. His father was a Cuban citizen up until 10 years ago when he turned 65. In Cruz’ book he talks about Cuba a lot. You have to wonder if that is the country he wants “to take back”.

I’m not saying that John McCain should be hit in the b*lls with a Louisville slugger: but it should be looked at.
All I’m saying. I don’t t think anyone can reasonably assert that we shouldn’t at least look at it as an option.
Nothing against John McCain. Just…it should be looked at.

That’s no walkback.There’s no walkback necessary.Raising the “problematic” issue of Cruz’s eligibility question is not the same as saying he is not eligible.Trump didn’t say that,Rand Paul didn’t say that,and Carly Fiorina didn’t say it. Any attempt like this to smear these folks is downright disgusting, and smacks of being a hit peiece by a Cruz shill.

When your a pundit, every twig looks like mighty oak. Birth right is a issue only pundits love. Voters, nah… Allah, you are over thinking this one, the voters have move on. Harping on this makes any candidate weak.(even McCain) Look at Trump, he is backing away as fast as he can. This is one of those D.C. issues that looks good to the insiders, then when exposed to the greater public, withers and dies.(Sigh….another slow Friday my pundit friend..)

The voters know who brought this up and Cruz doesn’t have to attack Trump for it. If he says the establishment is afraid of him and are talking about his citizenship for that reason, Trump can’t continue to mention it without looking like he’s taking the establishment’s side.

Do you bother reading beyond the part you like? Here, I’ll help you out:

“It was like a census… they were very quick and non-obtrusive visits, someone standing in your doorstep,” he told Breitbart News via e-mail. “They certainly didn’t ask for ID.

“It is not surprising to me that there may be a spelling error in someone’s name. A name appearing on the list would not necessarily indicate that they were a citizen, or that they themselves had even spoken to the enumerator—someone else in the household may have spoken for them,” Levant added.

If you were born in the USA to a citizen parent, you are a natural born citizen of America.

If that citizen then moves to Canada and receives citizenship there, that does not automatically nullify your natural born US citizenship as some people seem to believe. At that point if you have a child in Canada, that child will have dual US-Canadian citizenship from birth.

You and your child can return to the USA at anytime and retain the dual citizenship, or in the case of Ted Cruz, formally relinquish the Canadian citizenship.

None of that makes him Constitutionally ineligible to run for President.

Brian1972 on January 8, 2016 at 3:17 PM

Given that Ted Cruz was born in Canada, what does your post have to do with anything?

Cruz’s Mom has not been proven to have been a U.S. citizen at the time of Cruz’s birth. Breitbart published Mommy Cruz’s birth certificate, but her being a natural born U.S. citizen is not in question. What is in question is whether she became a Canadian citizen. Some folks have said that is unlikely, but there is no supporting documentation to that effect, either way.

The Naturalization Act of 1795 removed the “natural born” part of the equation out of language written into the Naturalization Act of 1790, which clarified the citizenship status of children born to U.S. citizens abroad, and which it superceded. Ted Cruz is a U.S. citizen by birth, but not a natural born citizen, who can only be born to two citizen parents.

Given that Ted Cruz was born in Canada, what does your post have to do with anything?

Cruz’s Mom has not been proven to have been a U.S. citizen at the time of Cruz’s birth. Breitbart published Mommy Cruz’s birth certificate, but her being a natural born U.S. citizen is not in question. What is in question is whether she became a Canadian citizen. Some folks have said that is unlikely, but there is no supporting documentation to that effect, either way.

The Naturalization Act of 1795 removed the “natural born” part of the equation out of language written into the Naturalization Act of 1790, which clarified the citizenship status of children born to U.S. citizens abroad, and which it superceded. Ted Cruz is a U.S. citizen by birth, but not a natural born citizen, who can only be born to two citizen parents.

Joseph K on January 8, 2016 at 5:34 PM

But it’s not in question. She wasn’t a Canadian citizen. Even if that was her intent, she would have had to have been in Canada for 5 years first and she was not.

“Eleanor was never a citizen of Canada, and she could not have been under the facts or the law. In short, she did not live in Canada long enough to be a Canadian citizen by the time Cruz was born in 1970: Canadian law required 5 years of permanent residence, and she moved to Canada in December 1967—only 3 years before Senator Cruz’s birth.”

The campaign could not provide her Canadian work permit.

Canadian immigration authorities could not provide Breitbart News with additional documents, citing Canadian privacy laws.

Oops. No proof that Mommy didn’t become a Canadian citizen, like Daddy did. She was on the voter roll. Of course dim bulb Cruz Cultists believe that this was a “mistake”. Nothing else to see here; move on.

It doesn’t matter anyway. Daddy wasn’t a U.S. citizen. According to the Naturalization Act of 1795, Ted is not a natural born citizen, but only a citizen.

Time to move on to Rubio, Cruz supporters! Since they are basically the same candidate, it shouldn’t be that tough of a switch.

Oops. No proof that Mommy didn’t become a Canadian citizen, like Daddy did. She was on the voter roll. Of course dim bulb Cruz Cultists believe that this was a “mistake”. Nothing else to see here; move on.

“Eleanor was never a citizen of Canada, and she could not have been under the facts or the law. In short, she did not live in Canada long enough to be a Canadian citizen by the time Cruz was born in 1970: Canadian law required 5 years of permanent residence, and she moved to Canada in December 1967—only 3 years before Senator Cruz’s birth.”

Um. You can’t disprove a negative. If she didn’t become a citizen of Canada, there isn’t any documentation to prove she didn’t because there wouldn’t be any.

conservageek on January 8, 2016 at 6:42 PM

Agreed. So it is no problem for Cruz to OK the release of any relevant documentation on Mommy held by the Canadian government, such as the work permit, or legal residency papers if there are any. Cruz should have no problem with this transparency, given the criticism over Obama’s refusal to come clean on his pre-Presidential record.

Agreed. So it is no problem for Cruz to OK the release of any relevant documentation on Mommy held by the Canadian government, such as the work permit, or legal residency papers if there are any. Cruz should have no problem with this transparency, given the criticism over Obama’s refusal to come clean on his pre-Presidential record.

Joseph K on January 8, 2016 at 6:51 PM

But see no they don’t. She was not a citizen of Canada when Ted Cruz was born because she was never a citizen.

If you want to burn time and energy looking for documentation that proves she worked in Canada on a work permit, have fun with that. But it doesn’t change she was never a Canadian.

Besides, the campaign could not provide the permit. But that doesn’t matter because they have provided the documentation that’s relevant to his eligibility.

— and he hasn’t renounced that citizenship. His father was a Cuban citizen up until 10 years ago when he turned 65. In Cruz’ book he talks about Cuba a lot. You have to wonder if that is the country he wants “to take back”.

KenInIL on January 8, 2016 at 3:54 PM

Birtherism knows no bounds. lol

Of course, you can’t have a dual citizenship as a Cuban. So you know…FACTS > crazy conspiracy theorists.